VIDEO : Bert Retouches a Portrait of Erika
February 27th, 2009 at 6:59pm
I don’t think my post processing is anything special. Usually I’m very much into “getting it right in camera” and only do post processing for basic adjustments (Lightroom only) and for times when it’s just not possible (or expensive) to do it in camera. But since so many people asked about my post processing work, I thought I’d share how I processed a portrait of Erika.
LIME010 -Bert Retouches a Portrait of Erika - by Bert Stephani from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.
In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.
The behind-the-scenes footage and the final image of this shoot, can be seen in this earlier LIME article.
Let me know what you think, maybe I’ll do some more of these screencasts in the future.
Posted in Movies
I like the screencast a lot. I work most of the time with the healing brush in PS and sometimes the spot removal LR is just enough. What i found most interesting is the before and after comparison. It’s great to see what you got out of your camera and where you are going with it.
Take care,
Phil from Munich
Hi Bert,
That was really basic and easy, and the result is great. Just how it should be!
I also use the patch-tool a lot, although i’m using the healing brush more and more (it’s faster).
Nice vid!
Greets,
Lennert
Well Bert, that was really clear explained. And the result is very nice. Most of the time I use the healing brush to remove blemishes, but if you’re too near to a different area it will be visible. With the patch tool you’ve got a lot of control and with the tablet you can work really fast with a lot of control.
I liked this screencast and hope you and Pieter will do a lot more of them.
Grtz,
Ties
Post-processing can be very easy and basic sometimes to obtain very good results, as you have shown in this screencast. Although I like your final result, I already liked the original image.
Great screencast, Bert, it was a very helpful post. Keep up the great work you guys are doing, it is very much appreciated!
Nice and simple. I’ve never used the patch tool, so I may try it out sometime after seeing how easy it appears to be.
As Phil mentioned, the spot removal in LR is great. I use it for removing blemishes by using the “heal” mode. If you use the keyboard shortcuts, you can use it as fast - or faster - as you demonstrated the patch tool in PS. It is just one less thing you need to do in PS now. The biggest drawback to it is that you can’t do an unlimited number of spots in a concentrated area, as it leaves the source circle on your image for non destructive purposes. But, I find that I rarely have to do multiple heals in an area so small that it becomes a problem.
Here it is ! The “Bert Stephani Look”
Thanks for this great work!
Brad C: If you have to use multiple numbers of spot ramovals on a very small area you can always set the circle next to it and then drag n’ drop it to its final destination. Sometimes resizing helps, to.
Great screencast. What amazes me most, is how close the original raw file is to the final version, related to the lighting. this proves that taking a good picture on location saves a lot of time later in post-processing.
once again, great video
Again a great screencast!
The more professional you get, the less tricks you need. It all stays simple but the image is very beautifull.
I agree with Serge Van Cauwenbergh that also the original images was allready great.
Thanks for sharing,
Regards
Hi Bert,
thanks a lot for the vid. I think it’s great to see someone else doing seemingly basic or small “adjustments”. For myself I prefer to not overdue it with post processing. So…feels good to see how you work.
By the way: You two are doing a terrific job! I really hope even more people will appreciate all the effort you put in this.Honestly, your pictures and vids made me rethink the way I look at the stuff I did so far.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for a great video.I tried the patch tool for the first time now and I liked it a lot
Hope to see some other post processing videos from you guys in the future!
Thank you Bert,
This is the first time I’ve ever seen a pro do post processing from the original image, thanks! Its nice to go along with your train of thoughts and processes and see how similar they are to us mere mortals:) I’m also a big fan of the patch tool!
This was exactly what I was waiting for from LIME. In the future could you do a tutorial on how you would handle mixed light situations such as flash and indoor lighting at night?
thanks!
Good stuff Bert. Enjoyable to see how you do it. The Patch tool is great.
I just wanted to ask you about sharpening, you didn’t go for any in the video. Is it not something you feel the need for,
Or just not for this particular shot?
Again, I live for LIME! He he.
Cheers
Martin
Nice to see how you post process your image Bert. I never used the patch tool that way and find it very interesting. The healing brush usually does a great job except in high contrast areas where it becomes smudgy.
Interesting to note is the difference in vignetting and post crop vignetting. Matt Kloskowski made an interesting video on it. You’ll see that is not only the vignetting as such (prr or post-crop) but also that way the vignetting is done.
http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/2009/video-tip-the-truth-behind-vignetting-and-edge-darkening/
Many thanks for sharing this! I did not know about the patch tools or healing brush in PS. It will be very handy when the spot removal in LR is not enough.
Great tutorial Bert. I have not tried the patch tool so it was very informative. I especially liked what it did with the shadows under the eyes.
Great work. Lime is always a must stop on my daily routine.
Hi Bert!
Thanks for the screencast. I’ve been wondering how your PP workflow goes.
Bert, I like your post processing style a lot, and I do similar adjustments as well.
I really like boosting the black levels, as well giving the picture a warmer tone.
Never actually used the patch tool before (only the healing and spot removal tools). Tried it on a couple of images (especially under the eyes) and it wonderfully well. Thanks for the tip
Thanks for the screencast, it’s great to have the explanation of why you’re doing something along with how.
Hey…….Bert……do you have the post processing (or can you make) a post processing preset for me (save it) and email me or tell me where I can download it. This is the post processing of Erica. Thanks, Kevin
Hi,
I’m not quite sure about the patch-tool, but for operators who use the clone stamp or the healing brush: You dont’t need to make a copy of your original picture. You can just create a new layer, make sure “use all layers” or “use all layers below” is active and this way you can paint into a new empty layer.
In this case it is an ease to erase your stampings at any time later or mask them. As well as you will save quite some memory in terms of RAM and file size to.
Greets from Germany,
excellent job though
tobibu
Great video Bert,
thanks for sharing your tricks with us!